Ciaotraveler

Every year Londoners and tourists are treated to some of the most elaborately decorated windows of various themes and clothing designers at Harrods Department Store. I was lucky to see to see the windows for the new millenium in 2000.  For this year's Disney theme, Designers from Versace, Cavalli, Dior decorated 10 windows with gorgeous gowns that could have easily been worn by Cinderella and Repunzel.  See more of the Euro store windows and city lights...

Rick Steves offered a great PBS special  highlighting some of country Christmas customs in Europe.  I especially liked his Paris, Switzerland, Italy and Austria features...

Recently I was browsing Etsy and happened on vintage travel suitcases turned into lovely card boxes. I had no idea the decorative card box is the latest greatest wedding necessity. These can be very chic and elegant boxes.  I remember baskets were often used for this purpose at weddings.  These are...

So sad to see one of the most vibrant piazza's in Europe if not the world under water.  This was beautiful St. Marks Piazza (The Cathedral in the background) in Venice.  The Adriatic Sea, around the corner on the right must make this an engineering marvel to drain the water somewhere.  Usually there's a multitude of sidewalk cafe's with outdoor seating in this plaza.  See what happened to the tables and chairs and the video at the Daily Mail  here . 

Which was your favorite Bond movie and James Bond actor?  Naturally for me, I enjoy seeing the beautiful filming locations such as Lake Como, London, Venice when I watch the movies.  See which one was the most popular bond movie of all time and some of the filming locations...

The colors of European cottages and buildings are full of charm and rustic authenticity.  Many are built of stone and finished with wood shutters and  a splash of color. Some of these properties are currently for sale or up for home exchange... Morbihan, France

These four photo variations are all created from the original rose photo in the upper left using the easy  Vintique app, an app for collage and frames for the iPad.  There are different effects and frames to make the photo appear more interesting.  I like the...

Dwell photo While Amsterdam is known for its houseboat living, this one is exceptionally well designed. This couple did it the right way with clean lines, textured walls, open rooms and an overall contemporary comfort.  I think this would be a great place for my retirement!

Bill and Giuliana Rancic are today's super couple.  She's a host on E! and he's the first Trump Apprentice winner who's gone on to be a successful businessman.  They've recently had a baby boy through gestational surrogacy and their experiences were captured on reality TV over the past several years.  They were married in beautiful,  Capri...

          I recently watched the movie, The Talented Mr. Ripley (again) and was surprised to see the same three stars were in another movie recently.   Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law  also starred in the movie, Contagion.  The Ripley  film featured many great European locations especially in Italy.  To the left is  the  historical coffee bar Cafe Florian , the oldest cafe in Venice in the main Piazza, St. Mark's Square where the stars met several times throughout the movie. The historical, popular Church in San Marco Basilica in the main Piazza, one of the most amazing and most visited Cathedrals in Europe.  Several hotels...

Published: Oct 17th, 2012  Life in Italy From the Ligurian coast, past the shores of Lake Garda; through Le Marche, Tuscany and Umbria way down through Lazio and Campania; all the way to Puglia, Calabria, and beyond to Sicily, Sardinia and other islands: the olive tree is a dominant and enduring feature of the Italian landscape. Indeed, the olive tree, a sturdy ancient Mediterranean plant, is a powerful and evocative representation of culture and civilisation. The ancients considered olives not just as a food, but a general panacea, a magical elixir of health and eternal youth.  The olive ranges in size from shrub to immense tree, and yields both fruit for eating, as well as a rich prize of precious  olio di oliva , the basis of the so-called Mediterranean diet.  Olive oil,

It was another elegant ($650k)  wedding this time in Luxembourg for Prince Guillaume, 30, heir to the throne, and Belgian Countess Stephanie di Lannoy, 28.   Guillaume is a lieutenant colonel in the Luxembourg army and has been engaged in humanitarian work.  She plays piano and violin, swims, skis, and speaks French and German - two of Luxembourg's three official languages.  She is studying the third, which is called Luxembourgish.  Her wedding gown and 13' train and designed by Elle Saab.   Daily Mail UK  here .

Justin and Jessica Timberlake were married October 19, 2012 at Resort Borgo Egnazia, Provence of Brindisi, Puglia, Italy.  Puglia is located on the Adriatic Sea side of Southeastern Italy.  This is not your typical touristy area so they picked a great choice to be discreet.  Congratulations, Justin and Jessica and...

  The street vendors in Italy are some of the best in Europe...here's my favorite Chestnut vendor in Rome.  You can smell these a mile away.  The most popular vendors in the hot weather are the cold fruit drinks. I love Rome and the Roman ruins in the off-season!   The chestnut vendors are nearby.... Lugano Market Pumpkins Lavendar in Lugano Lugano Chestnut Vendor Granita vendors...wow, this is the greatest smooth iced drink made from the freshest fruits especially lemons, blood oranges and oranges.  These are obviously located at Pompeii. Wandering musician in Lucca, Italy Looking on the town below Orvieto, It. The fresh cocoanut and garlic knots, Pisa, It. My favorite flower vendors in Milano. Not really a street vendor, but he sort of hangs out in this London street a lot! It's not u...

I come from the land of cotton, grapes and dairy farms in the great Central Valley of California.  Bruce Springsteen sang about the early immigrants living and working along the Central Valley agricultural producing trails.  When I was growing up, I knew people who worked in the fields and I even picked tomatoes one summer.  On a recent drive by some of the many fields in our area, I realized it was close to harvest time and the cotton will soon be gone.  Here's just a small tribute to its wonders, handmade from Europe...

I was inspired by the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten, today as I watched her make authentic French bistro foods.  She finished with a beautiful outdoor table scape, French style naturally.  Ina  cut fresh lilies from her own estate garden.  She  mastered the Julia  Child's French Cook Book and enjoys cooking the French way with her own twist of making it simple.  I loved her simple Apple Tarts that she made today.  You can see that recipe at the end of this post and the link to her favorite shops in Paris...

Versus pronounced vair-ZHOO), sometimes spelled verjuice, is a French term that when translated into English mean “green juice." It is a medieval condiment that was once a staple of French provincial cooking and is now enjoying a worldwide revival. In medieval times the term verjus could refer to the juice of a variety of unripe fruit - from grapes to plums. Today, Verjus is made from semi-ripe and unfermented wine grapes. The grapes are hand-picked from the vine during a period called veraison (when the grapes change in color and the berries begin to soften enough to press). Grapes are thinned to reduce the crop load in our vineyard. The thinned grapes are high in acid and low in sugar. Sugars at this harvest can range between 13 and 15 brix. In Oregon, veraison occurs sometime in mid August. Because  verjus is made from wine grapes and shares the same acid-base as wine, it is an elegant and delicate alternative to vinegar and lemon juice as it is “wine friendly” and will ...

These design and photo tips may help you post on facebook or your first blog posts.  We all have to start somewhere. Try different effects depending on the statement you're trying to make in your post. Upper left is the original photo of this home in France.  Read on to see how the effects were created and more design tricks...

Si si in Sorrento! This lovely well-dressed lady from New Orleans, LA., was someone we met while dining in Sorrento, IT.  She adored her Cocker Spaniel, "Maggie Mae".  We also bumped into the pair in Positano just by accident the next day!  She was so memorable and her dog too!  See...

This only appears to be a magnetic board with my photos on it with colored travel magnets.  This is NOT what it appears...read on...